The repositioning of the United States’s military strategy includes a great expansion in the use of armed-drones to attack targets in Pakistan and Yemen. But this development raises profound legal and ethical questions that are now entering the public arena.
The United States's narrative of progress against the Taliban faces uncomfortable realities on the ground - and unexpected resistance in Washington.
The United States’s post-9/11 strategy sought to establish a new order in the middle east. A proposed regional-security constellation involving Baghdad and Tehran is a measure of its failure.
Where is al-Qaida going after the Arab spring and the death of the movement's figurehead? The dynamics of global security in the 21st century offer an answer. The question is also one that the Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad was investigating at the time of his shocking murder.
The death of Osama bin Laden is a crucial military-political opportunity for Barack Obama. But the United States defence complex has Beijing and budgets on its mind.
The west's military-political strategy prolongs the war in Libya and gives space to authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the region.(This article was first published on 19 May 2011)
The afterglow of Osama bin Laden’s killing fuels the United States’s confidence in its shift towards integration of military and security policy. But it is another grand illusion and missed opportunity.
The death of the al-Qaida leader is a symbolic moment. But far more important is that the future of his movement - and much else besides - is closely tied to the success or failure of the Arab risings.
The diplomatic signals point to negotiation with the Taliban as a route to ending the Afghan conflict. But the geopolitical hurdles remain formidable.
Libya's war is being shaped by Tripoli's defiance, the rebels' endurance, and the western coalition's strains. In the mix, a Gaddafi regime faced with elimination is making larger plans.
The Iraqi experience of creating a new constitution from political and social ruin offers lessons for Egypt, says Zaid Al-Ali.
A single incident in Libya's evolving conflict may come to be pivotal in shaping the fate both of the anti-Gaddafi effort and of western military intervention.
